Start to improve your twitter experience by removing the bread from your head!

Even now I listen to those who make comments such as: ‘Twitter is for people who have nothing better to do with their lives.’ It would take too long to even précis the argument that counters this opinion. Yet Leadamo Academy understands this is usually the product of a lack of knowledge regarding just what twitter can do for a business. Yes there are many tweeters with whom you might not engage, but there are plenty of others who can augment your twitter experience and promote your business. With thoughtful interaction and a specific twitter strategy you can make a real difference to your twitter experience.

Leadamo Academy’s Top 3 ways to improve your twitter experience for beginners.

1.     How do I find the people with whom I might like to engage?

Firstly it is important to consider your target audience or niche market. So imagine your business is a small plumbing company. Who would you be targeting? It is likely you will wish to work locally. Why not use advanced search from twitter?

Improve your twitter experience with advanced search

It is self-explanatory. You can add the search terms that will yield the results you are looking for. Check out the twitter help centre for more information.

Consider this list of suggestions first:

• Name of town or city
• The name of your community or neighbourhood
• Maybe a well-known local landmark
• Other local businesses (very useful!)
• Public locations such ac clubs, bars, pubs, venues, cinemas, museums etc
• Community events
• Hashtag identifiers.

Don’t forget to consider all the different types of searches people might type in as each one might yield different results.

2.     I have no time to think of what to tweet? I never have any ideas!

If you are short on time or imagination then use your twitter feed itself! Watching the feed of your chosen field and what your followers are saying can inspire and is always stuffed full of potential subjects, opinions and ideas.

You might want to engage with someone’s photo of the snow fall in their area and offer plumbing advice for example

Check to see if there’s a newsworthy item that might link with your business. It might be a case of simply re tweeting it.

Start following people in the following categories and you will never be short of inspiration again:

• existing customers
• business partners, suppliers, contractors and vendors, competitors and/or your peer group
• appropriate trade or and/or professional  industry organizations
• Other businesses in your neighbourhood
• Businesses run by people your own professional network
• You never know when they might need your services or feel the need to promote you. Word of mouth still works.’ Oh yes I know a plumber who follows me on twitter and s/he sounds really knowledgeable.

3.     How do I know what kind of balance to strike with my tweets?

As Leadamo Academy has mentioned before shouting about your own product, brand or service endlessly will not endear you to anyone in the twittersphere. So divide your tweets into: information, engagement and promotion. You might end up being the person people rely on to tweet a daily quotation or pictures about cats stuck in unusual places (it is your choice!) But vary your posts and if you are tweeting about things that do not link to your brand use them sparingly otherwise it dilutes your focus. Remember, every day vary the emphasis and try to be different, thoughtful, witty as appropriate, maybe provocative, (with caution) but always interesting. There are people around who will write tweets for you to post. What is very important is to have quality content on your site which is updated regularly. This will help you to drive traffic and not disappoint visitors when they arrive on your site. This after all is one of the greatest attributes of twitter and social media in general.